Kingdom Hearts: The Mercenary's Tale
by key18
Summary: Kamden is a young mercenary living in Radiant Garden and after taking a few less than enjoyable jobs, he decides to leave. Unfortunately for him, his departure coincides with the steady return of the darkness. Join Kamden and anyone else he comes across and follow them on their journey. Rated T for language and violence.
1. An Explosive Start

**Author's Note: Here's chapter one of my NEW Kingdom Hearts story. This one for the most part is going to be OC centered and the main KH characters may not even be mentioned. So if you don't like that don't read and blah blah blah, now lets get on with this. **

**Kingdom Hearts and everything in it, aside from my OC's, are owned my Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix and Disney, enjoy.**

* * *

In a bar on the far side of Radiant Garden sat a boy, who was more than likely to young to be there. He wore a green short-sleeved hoodie, and matching green gloves. Along with that he also sported dark blue pants coupled with dark green shoes and a red ribbon around his arm. His face was covered by a green hood, revealing his mouth and a small portion of the scar on his left cheek. The boy sat at the counter, drinking what he hoped was a non alcoholic beverage. The bartender was standing further down the counter and was wiping it off since a man had recently thrown up on it.

"So Kamden, I hear you've been making big bucks in the mercenary business," The bartender exclaimed. The boy removed his hood, revealing his messy green hair which turned blue around his bangs and his dark blue eyes with mysterious orange streaks through them.

"Yeah, but I can't say I enjoy the Restoration Committee using me for the dark side of their work," The boy known as Kamden said. As he finished his statement, Kamden heard the door open and turned around to see who it was. Standing in the entrance was a girl who was about the same age as Kamden, with long crimson hair and green eyes. She sported a bright blue sundress and matching blue hairpins.

"I'm looking for Kamden," The girl stated out loud. Everyone in the bar pointed to the green haired boy sitting at the counter, who weakly waved to the girl. The strange girl walked over to the mercenary and sat down. The bartender patted Kamden on the shoulder and retreated to the back.

"I'm assuming you're my new contact with the Restoration Committee," Kamden asked observantly. The girl nodded as she retrieved as she placed a file folder on the counter. Kamden grabbed the folder and began to look through it, not really paying attention to the written words and more at the pictures. "Might I ask your name, or can I just call you Red?"

"My name is Maria, and don't call me Red, I can't stand it," Maria objected.

"Whatever Red. Now whats my objective?" Kamden asked playfully. Maria turned red with anger but composed herself before speaking.

"You're mission is to destroy the warehouse not to far from here. You'll need several explosives and a team of-"

"Sorry but this looks like it will be a solo job," Kamden interrupted. The informant looked at him in shock before trying to object.

"No this is far to dangerous! You need a skilled team for a job like this, going in solo isn't an option," She lectured. Kamden responded by handing back the files before rising from his seat.

"You're obviously new to all this but I'm not gonna let your rookie judgement weigh me down. So let me go Red before I show you how skilled I am," The green haired boy threatened cheerily. Maria was baffled by the tone he was using on her and wasn't going to take it sitting down. So she stood up.

"You would be wise not to disobey your employers Kamden," the redhead threatened. Kamden grinned in response before running out the door. Maria watched him leave in disbelief before sitting down is exasperation. The bartender emerged from his spot in the back and place a drink down next to the redhead.

"Don't worry about him. Kamden is just excited to be finally making it big in the mercenary biz," The bartender exclaimed. Maria sighed before grabbing the drink and taking a sip. "At least you both like your non-alcoholic drinks."

The redhead smiled innocently before putting the drink back down, and looking at the file folder.

* * *

Kamden ran across the rooftops at a breakneck pace on his way to the given location. The green clad boy grin in excitement at the specifications of his job, his only order was to destroy the warehouse and anyone inside. The last time he had an order like that was when... Kamden shook his head to remove those thoughts before focusing back on his target. He materialized his keyblade, which looked like two green chakrams connected by a tornado, and jumped across to the roof of the warehouse. Kamden ran to the edge and looked below, taking count of the two guards beneath him. Once the other guard turned away, Kamden quietly jumped down to eliminate the first one. The mercenary the threw his keyblade through the second one, before turning to the windows.

"Hmm the window's locked. Real smart, a lock is a great way to keep your stuff safe when your being attacked by a kid with a giant key," Kamden mused sarcastically. He pointed his keyblade at the lock and it promptly released a beam of light which unlocked the window. "Well I also could've broke the window and saved myself the time, but surprising them is so much fun."

Kamden entered through the window and traversed across the beams. He looked down and saw several dozen henchmen down below. Kamden silently thanked his stealthy entrance before putting together a plan. He pointed his keyblade at a stack of steel containers at the far side of the room and casted a magnet spell, dragging it over to the henchmen. One of them noticed the floating container and walked over to investigate. Kamden laughed silently before changing the magnet spell into a fire one. The container began to glow red-hot and the green haired boy prayed his gamble would work. As the henchman approached the barrel, it was getting hotter and expanding slightly. Once the thug was within distance of touching it, Kamden let loose a firaga spell on the barrel, causing it to explode. Several henchmen, including the first one were killed either by the blast of the flying chunks of metal and once the smoke cleared Kamden descended from the ceiling, landing on a henchman to break his fall. The merc stood and quickly slashed through a pair of clueless thugs who ran at him, cutting them in half and spewing blood everywhere. The rest of the henchman were slightly more cautious than the first two, and formed a circle around Kamden.

"Gee if I know you only wanted to dance, I wouldn't have killed your friends. You guys can pass along the message right?" A few thugs looked at each other in fear, giving Kamden an opening to slice a few limbs and heads off. It wasn't long before the warehouse was full of dismembered body parts and a huge pool of blood. Kamden sat atop the pile of bodies, examining his handy work. "I may have gone a little to far on this one."

The green haired boy climbed of the pile of once living beings and walked over to the steel containers. There were several nozzles on them, indicating they were filled with something, which Kamden had assumed to be gasoline. He undid the nozzle on one of them, letting a large amount of gas spill onto the floor. Kamden then lifted the barrel with a magnet spell and walked out the main doors with it, leaving a gas trail behind him.

As he walked out the door, Kamden spied two guards that he didn't spot earlier and decided to have a last bit of fun before his job was over. The green mercenary tapped the guards on the shoulders before presenting them with the barrel.

"Could you two stay right there and hold this for me? Great, now just stay right there and..." Kamden pointed his keyblade at the accumulating gasoline on the ground before sending a fira spell at it. The two guards looked at their feet and saw the fire following the trail of gasoline into the warehouse, which Kamden was quickly running away from. The first guard let go of his end of the barrel and ran for dear life, while the other one chased the fire inside and tried to stop it. After a number of seconds there was a massive explosion where the warehouse once stood, and Kamden smiled at the fireworks.

"Let's see what Red has to say about this," Kamden smirked before heading back to the bar.

* * *

The green clad boy walked into the bar and saw a few people remaining, Maria being one of them. Kamden laughed a bit and walked over to her as quietly as he could.

"I can smell the gas on your clothes, so don't even bother sneaking up on me," She barked. Kamden stopped dead in his tracks before sitting down next to her.

"Hey, I made it back in one piece. Where's my congratulations or 'hey good job, here's your paycheck'," Kamden whined. The redhead glared at her her temporary employee.

"Your paycheck will come after we assess your work at the sight," Maria said. The green haired merc frowned and started tapping his fingers on the counter.

"Are you sure that's it? Maybe that's just an excuse to come see me again. Tell you what I'll give you my number and-" Kamden was quickly interrupted by a hand placed on his mouth.

"Let me make this absolutely clear. I have no interest in seeing you besides work, and even right now I hate being around you," the redhead scolded. Kamden acknowledged her words with a nod and removed her hand from her mouth. "Now expect to hear from me again within the week, I'll be calling about your pay."

"Understood Red!" Kamden stood up and gave a mock salute, much to Maria's disgust before she walked out of the bar.

Kamden sighed in defeat and rested his head on the counter.

"Damn kid, she was quite the catch and you blew it big time," The bartender stated. The green clad boy groaned as the bartender laughed at him. "Hey don't worry kid, I'm sure you'll find a girl out there somewhere."

"Yeah and then I'll chase her off because I have no people skills." Kamden slammed his head against the counter, leaving a small spot of blood. "Sorry about that."

"Its fine, nothing I can't clean." The bartender quickly wiped up the blood and pointed Kamden to the staircase. "Your rooms ready. I changed your sheets and let me remind to to wash the blood off you after you return from a job."

"Geez who are you my mother? Oh wait her blood is on my hands too, except I can't wash that off!" Kamden yelled angrily. The green haired boy vented his anger by knocking over a few tables and headed up to his room.

He opened the door to see his regular shaudy bedroom. The bed was an old mattress on the floor with somewhat clean bed sheets, his window was boarded up and the most advanced thing in the room was his tv, which he used to see the public's views on his exploits. Kamden lazily flopped down on his bed and stared at the roof, looking at the pictures of his parents. His mother was a vibrant woman for her age and was the source of Kamden's strange eyes and the blue in his hair. His father on the other hand was basically and older version of Kamden. Same personality, same awkwardness, same everything. In between the two pictures of his parents was a picture of his whole family. The picture must've been taken when he was about eight years old. He looked like the polar opposite of his current self. Carefree and happy. While he was still carefree and optimistic now, Kamden felt the happiness he had back then was gone.

"That picture is from nine years ago, eight years before the incident," Kamden told himself. The merc looked at his arm and saw the red ribbon he wore in memory of his parents and sighed. "Mom, Dad, I really hope I'm making you proud and I hope I can redeem myself for what happened to you."

Kamden lowered his arm and took one last look at the photos before finally falling asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: So yeah that was the first chapter. It was pretty short I'll admit but I didn't want to drag it out for to long so I ended it where I did. On a side note, you can also find Kamden in a story which I donated him to, Kingdom Hearts: Reborn by Drexbann15, check out that story cause its really good. So thats all from me, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you can review or do whatever you want as you wait for chapter 2. **


	2. Never Cheat A Mercenary

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 2 for all those concerned or interested. I felt like I rushed some parts of the first chapter and tried to slow it down a little in this one. There will be another semi-major character introduced in this chapter and the mention of another one. So without further ado, let's begin. **

**Aside from any OC characters, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix and Disney, enjoy. **

* * *

As Kamden descended the stairs the next morning, he was still in a somewhat bitter mood and the bar was as empty as its ever been. Not even the bartender was there to greet him.

"Hey um...I just realized in the year I've lived here I never bothered to learn the bartender's name," Kamden mused. He walked over to the counter and saw a note stuck to it. "_Kamden, I'm going out on an errand so don't panic. Go out and do whatever you need to do and I'll expect to see you later today, Dave_. His name is Dave? I can't believe I never heard that." The green haired boy put up his hood before exiting the bar.

Kamden walked down the street and saw several Restoration Committee members running down the street towards the warehouse he destroy the day before.

"Odd, why would the RC be worried about a resistance warehouse? Whatever, it probably has no bearing on my pay." Kamden shrugged off the sight and walked off to the castle. He was about halfway to the castle gardens before someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?"

"You're Kamden correct?" The young soldier asked. Kamden nodded as he turned all the way around. "Mr. Denzel wishes to speak to you."

"That's fine, I was just on my way to see him."

"He's over at the site of yesterday's explosion, He told me to find you and bring you to him." The soldier grabbed Kamden by the shoulder, which he promptly got free from. "My orders are to bring you to the site of the explosion."

"I know that, I also know where I'm going, so send word to Denzel that I'm on my way and that I'll be there shortly," Kamden ordered. The soldier shrunk back before grabbing his radio and sending word to Denzel. Once the soldier confirmed the situation, Kamden took off towards Denzel's location.

* * *

Kamden arrived and noticed a huge RC clean up crew trying to scavenge the remains of the warehouse. He scouted out the location and saw Denzel standing near the middle of all the commotion.

"Hey Denzel, whats happening?" Kamden asked with a wave. The current head of the restoration committee was a little older than Kamden and wearing a regular business suit. He had his brown hair spiked up somewhat and his blue eyes looked incredibly familiar to Kamden.

"Oh Kamden, I didn't expect you to be here so soon," Denzel greeted cheerfully.

"I've been in your employ for almost three years, you should know by now." The mercenary walked up and shook his employer's hand. "But man, if it wasn't for your hair color, I'd probably have mistaken you for Cloud."

"Really? I didn't think it turned out that great." Denzel touched the top of his spiky hair, earning a laugh from Kamden. "But on to more pressing matters."

"Yeah, did you enjoy my handiwork?" Kamden asked pridefully. The head of the restoration committee looked at the merc in surprise.

"You did this?"

"Yeah your new informant asked me to destroy this place, is that bad?" Kamden noticed Denzel looking increasingly frustrated.

"Marlene came by and asked you to blow up a Restoration Committee warehouse?" Now Kamden was surprised. He destroy one of the RC's warehouses, and he wasn't even supposed to?

"No Marlene never dropped by. Some redhead came by instead, I assumed she was new and Marlene was off on other business." Denzel seemed to calm down slightly as Kamden explained the situation.

"Can you tell me what she looks like?"

"Well her hair was definitely her most defining trait, that and her somewhat unnerving green eyes. She had been wearing lots of blue too." Denzel seemed somewhat impressed but still looked like he needed more information.

"Anything else, like a name?" Denzel pleaded.

"Her name was Maria, and try calling her Red. She told me she hates it, so you might be able to catch her if you just randomly call her Red." Denzel nodded and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He placed a call to most of the guard checkpoints to apply the current info for any red haired girls."Anything you need me to do boss?"

"Yes I want you to search the rest of the city. Even with all the checkpoints, it still might take to long time to find her," Denzel instructed. Kamden gave a quick salute before jumping to the rooftops, much to Denzel's building concern. "Are you sure you don't want to take the streets?"

"Nah it's quicker this way, plus if I do find her I can ambush her," Kamden explained. Denzel shrugged in agreement as the mercenary bolted across the roofs.

* * *

It had nearly been two hours and Kamden wasn't getting anywhere with his search. He had taken Denzel's advice and started walking through the streets, which were relatively clear after the fugitive notice went out.

"Dammit, where the hell is she?" He wondered aloud. Kamden turned a corner and once again it was empty. In a fit of rage he slammed his first into the nearby wall, which cracked a little under the force of the punch. He drew his hand back and massaged it slightly before sitting down. "Ok Kamden, you're an optimist, so let's look at the positives here. You haven't heard anything from the checkpoint guards or Denzel and you haven't been attacked yet, that's a good thing."

Almost immediately after he finished his pep talk, Kamden heard someone talking a little farther ahead.

"Thank goodness I stayed positive." Kamden fist pumped before running ahead. The voice was getting progressively louder as he got closer and it sound like the person was having a conversation, but Kamden only heard a single voice. So either it was a crazy person, or his target was on the phone. He slowed his pace once he was within earshot and hid at the corner of the wall. He peeked his head out just enough to see.

Just as he'd hoped, there she was. Maria was leaning up against the wall, talking on the phone. Kamden noted her more unusual attire. Instead of the sundress she wore the day before, Maria was wearing a pair of blue sweat pants and a matching blue hoodie, her hair was in a bun and she looked more tired than she should be.

"Yeah I know I'm late...Thats because the RC set up checkpoints to try and catch me...I think Kamden may have figured me out and told Denzel...Yeah you're right, he couldn't see through me, they're probably beefing up security because of the attack yesterday." Maria continued her call as Kamden felt almost hurt by her shot at his intelligence. "Ok I'm on my way, save me some food for when I get back."

With that the redhead closed her phone and shoved it into her pockets, at which point Kamden emerged from his hiding spot. "So, how are those long distance charges?"

"O-Oh Kamden, I wasn't expecting you to find me. Did your paycheck not come in?" Maria asked nervously. The merc narrowed his eyes making the redhead a little more nervous.

"Nah I actually came to talk to you about that." Kamden took a step forward, making Maria take a step back.

"And that would be?"

"I was just wondering how much play money was included in my pay?" Kamden could almost hear the glass shatter in Maria's mind. As he continued to walk towards her, he noticed Maria reach for something behind her. She quickly produced a small knife which didn't even faze Kamden. "So want to bring a knife to a keyblade fight?"

Before she could answer Kamden was upon her with his keyblade raised. There was a brief shriek before Kamden knocked the knife out of her grasp. The merc grabbed his target by the wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. Maria let out a brief yelp of pain before Kamden held the point of his keyblade to her head.

"What are you gonna do, kill me?" She asked with mock bravery. Kamden shook his head, leading her to confusion.

"My orders are to bring you back for interrogation, and I'll only harm you if you try to run. So to make this easier..." Kamden trailed off as Maria suddenly felt really drowsy. That coupled with the sound of a few sheep led her to believe he casted a sleep spell on her. Her body went limp and the merc took his cue to let go of her arm. Kamden slung her body over his shoulder and carried her off to the castle.

* * *

Kamden arrived at the castle with his target in hand. He was given a rough time by the guards but his security pass changed their minds. Kamden walked through the halls and eventually made his way to Denzel's office. He gently placed Maria on the floor and casted a second sleep spell on her to be sure she wouldn't wake up. He nudged the sleeping girl to make sure the spell was in full effect before entering Denzel's office.

"Ah Kamden, I was wondering when you'd return. Did you find her?" Denzel didn't even look up from his paperwork as he greeted Kamden. The merc got his full attention by pulling away the papers. "Did you find her?" Kamden nodded and motioned to the door, much to the chagrin of Denzel. "You mean she's right outside? What if she decides to break in and attack me!?"

"Don't worry, I double casted a sleep spell on her. Red won't be waking up for a few more hours at most." Hearing this Denzel calmed himself and retrieved the papers Kamden took from him. "Want me to take her to the interrogation room?"

"Yes that would be appreciated. I'll send someone down when you get there, perhaps you can keep our guest busy for a while."

"Don't expect me to hurt her, I'm not big on torture," Kamden clarified. Denzel nodded and motioned for Kamden to leave, which he did.

Kamden quietly closed the door behind him and saw Maria still sleeping peacefully. "I guess I did say a few hours at most, I should maybe bind her hands or something just to be safe." The merc materialized his keyblade and placed Maria's hands close together and casted a bind spell on them. "Good, now I should be safe from unexpected punches to the back of my skull." With that Kamden hoisted Maria back over his shoulder and walked to the interrogation room. For him, every time something like this happened it was like a good cop bad cop routine, with Kamden being the good cop and the interrogator being the bad one.

The door to his destination was alot closer than he remembered. "They must've put in a second one due the increase in resistance captives lately." Kamden shrugged before pushing the door open with his free hand. The room was bigger than the small door let on. One room was for observing the interrogation and potential torture, while the other room was where those things happened.

"I hope they don't make me stick around for the torture. I remember some soldier throwing up from watching the last one," Kamden spoke to himself. The merc opened the door to the torture room and placed Maria down in on of the chairs at the table, while he sat down opposite of her. There was a bottle of water on the table and Kamden decided to wake up his hostage by tossing it at her. The redhead awoke with a start as the water bottle hit her.

"What? Please don't shoot, I'm just an innocent little girl!" Maria screamed. She opened her eyes to a white room and a large cabinet behind her and Kamden sitting in front of her. "Oh crap, what are you doing here?"

"Just watching over the most recent RC prisoner, that's you by the way," Kamden smirked. Maria looked around frantically before trying to attack Kamden, only to be stopped by the binding on her hands. "Don't worry, I'm not going to be the one interrogating you.." The door in the main room opened and Kamden pointed behind him at the man who entered. "He is."

Before Maria could object, Kamden got up from his seat and left the room. He stopped next to the interrogator and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be nice to her for a bit, but if she gets stubborn feel free to take it up a notch." The interrogator nodded as Kamden left the room. The last thing he heard was a pleading cry from the prisoner.

* * *

**Author's Note: Was that good, or did I rush stuff again? I hope I didn't and yeah Denzel from Advent Children is here. And just to clarify, this story takes place a number of years after all that stuff with Master Xehanort that I didn't want to make a story about. And yes Marlene will be appearing as early as next chapter and as late as before the end of the story. Hopefully I improved somewhat over the previous chapter. So while you wait for chapter 3, review or do whatever, see ya.**


	3. The Great Escape

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 3 for all those concerned, interested or otherwise. Just a heads up but this is probably the last chapter I'll b writing for the rest of this week since I got lots of stuff to do for school. Anyway, on with the show.**

**Aside from My OC's, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix and Disney, enjoy.**

* * *

Denzel leaned back in his chair as Kamden anxiously paced back and forth in his office. The head of the Restoration Committee knew what was troubling his friend and decided to call him out on it.

"Kamden, if you're so nervous about it, why did you not oversee the interrogation?" The mercenary stopped and looked towards the door before turning towards Denzel.

"You know exactly why I didn't. You know for a fact that I hate torture more than anything in the world," Kamden stated angrily. He clenched his fists in anger and started pacing again, much to the building concern of Denzel.

"If you hate torture then why didn't you just ask her about what we need to know?"

"Because I don't know what the RC needs to know! I've worked for you for three years and you still leave me in the dark on most things." Kamden slammed his hands on Denzel's desk as if to prove his point, sending most of the papers on it flying across the room.

"I'm sorry about that, but we could never be to sure if the resistance could afford to pay you more than we can," Denzel explained. Before either of them could get another word in, Denzel's phone rang and he quickly answered it. "Hello?...Yes, he's here...Ok I'll send him over now." Denzel finished his call and turned to Kamden, who was already walking to the door.

"I have to get the prisoner right?" Denzel nodded in response and Kamden left the office. The mercenary walked down the hallway, towards the interrogation room and his blood started to boil ever so slightly. He stopped outside the door and tried to calm himself, but failed when he heard a scream from the other side of the door. Kamden practically kicked the door in and saw Maria hooked up to a makeshift electric chair.

"Stop! Let her go right now!" Kamden ordered. The two soldiers stared at him in confusion as he ran into the other room and forcibly turned off the machine, receiving a few minor shocks in the process. Maria was barely conscious as Kamden removed her from the chair. Her clothes were slightly charred and she had multiple cuts and bruises across her body. There were faint traces of electricity coursing along her and she was shaking uncontrollably. In anger Kamden turned to the two soldiers and glared at them. "Did you even bother to ask her anything?"

"No sir, she never even spoke," One of the soldiers stated.

"Don't you think that would maybe call for a change of tactics?" The two soldiers stared at each other without an answer and Kamden contemplated killing them right there. "As I thought. Next time you should ask some questions before almost killing the suspect."

The soldiers nodded in fear and let Kamden take Maria to her cell. As he walked to the prison block of the castle, Kamden casted multiple cure spells on Maria in an attempt to wake her or at least heal some of her more serious injuries. It was a long walk and Kamden had plenty of time and healing spells to use.

The redhead stirred slightly and Kamden gave a sigh of relief. He stopped casting the cure spells and picked up his pace a little to get to the prison quicker.

* * *

Kamden arrived at a bleak looking prison cell. He actually had expected slightly better accommodations for Maria, since she was a girl and all, but he figured a prisoner was a prisoner. He opened the door and placed Maria on the bed and took a few steps back. He casted a very weak blizzard spell and caught the ice before it hit the floor. Kamden then spread the ice across some of Maria's wounds and she winced slightly in pain. Her eyes fluttered upon and she failed to notice Kamden standing about five feet away. As she continued to look around the cell, Kamden slowly back out and closed the cell door before locking it with his keyblade.

"Well looks like you're finally coming around," Kamden said. Maria turned and stared at him blankly before a look of realization appeared on her face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she scrambled to the far end of her bed.

"Funny, you asked that same question nearly two hours ago," Kamden smiled. Maria gave him a questioning glance before realizing what he meant.

"Oh yeah...two hours of forced shock therapy. It was actually more fun than it looked." Maria laughed weakly. Kamden's smile weakened as he conjured up another chunk of ice.

"Here, catch." The mercenary tossed the ice shard at Maria who juggled it slightly before catching it.

"Whats this for? Trying to make me kill myself?" She asked with some hostility.

"Actually it's for the bump on the back of your head, but if you want ice in your veins go ahead," Kamden countered. Maria looked somewhat apologetic as she gingerly placed the ice on the back of her head. "And I might require a 'thank you' for saving you from a 'shocking' death."

Maria groaned at the pun as she laid down and stared at the ceiling. "That was so bad I think the ice melted in response."

"Oh come on! I put alot of thought into that pun!" Kamden declared. Maria rolled her eyes and continued to stare at the ceiling. The merc leaned against the wall away from the cell and stared at Maria, who seemed to be growing slighty agitated.

"Why are you staring at me?" the redhead asked. Kamden shrugged and leaned his head against the wall. "Got nothing to say?"

"Nah, I'm just trying to think of a good reason. Maybe I'm just following orders, or something else." Kamden answered vaguely. Having quickly grown tired of standing, Kamden sat down on the floor and stared into the cell.

"Seriously that's your best answer? I figured a guy like you would've had some ulterior motive." Maria sat up and stared at the mercenary, who was gazing outside through the window of the cell.

Kamden's gaze didn't waver as he asked another question. "A guy like me? What's that mean?"

"You know, flirty, kinda crazy and a bit of a jerk."

"Believe it or not I'm not always like that. I'm usually more like this," Kamden countered. Maria stared in disbelief at the merc who sat so calmly in front of her. She noticed his body language was a lot more relaxed than the day before. He also seemed much more...peaceful.

"I expected a boy who has done as much wetworks as you have, to be a lot more gruff and hardened. I guess stereotypes aren't always true." Maria stated. Her words didn't even seem to make it to Kamden, as he was still staring through the window. "Hello? Radiant Garden to Mr. Green?"

"Yeah I hear you and you're probably right, I should fit into the mercenary stereotype more. I just choose not to." As he spoke, Kamden stood up and walked over to the cell, grabbing Maria's attention. "Now keep your voice low, I have something to tell you."

"What is so important that you need to whisper to me?" Maria spat as she approached the bars.

"I'm gonna break you outta here," Kamden whispered. Maria stared at him in disbelief as he continues to whisper. "I have a room that I usually stay in on days that Dave isn't around..."

"Dave? Who's that?"

"The bartender, his name is Dave."

"Strange, no one ever called him that while I was there."

"Yeah I know, I just found out today and I've lived there for over a year now," Kamden added. Maria giggled slightly when she noticed him getting off topic, causing Kamden to clear his throat before continuing. "Anyway, The room I have isn't too far away from here. I can sneak out later tonight and bust you out."

"Won't that be bad for you?" Maria asked with concern. Kamden shook his head before continuing.

"That's the hard part. After I free you I'm gonna be somewhat of a fugitive, so we'll need to get to the gummi hanger and steal a ship."

"Why's that the hard part?"

"It's on the other side of the castle," Kamden stated firmly. In turn Maria gained a nervous look on her face and laughed weakly. "Don't worry, a couple of mega flares and the path should be clear."

"Won't that endanger the structural integrity of the castle?" Maria asked knowledgeably. Kamden stopped talking and had a shocked look on his face. "I assume we're taking the long way around now?"

"Yeah we are," He said in defeat. Maria laughed a little as Kamden backed away from the cell. "Look in about six hours I'll be coming to get you, sit tight until then."

"Where am I gonna go?"

"Well you could go to 'cell'," Kamden said with a smirk. Maria rolled her eyes in disappointment and Kamden frowned. "Oh come on that was a good one. You get it right? Cell for hell?"

"Just leave now before I strangle you through the bars."

"Yes ma'am." Kamden gave a weak mock salute before taking off down the hall, leaving Maria to wait patiently in her cell.

* * *

The six hours had passed and Kamden was almost ready to execute his plan. He didn't bother grabbing any clothes, since he planned on destroying the room anyway and instead grabbed a small backpack and placed a few potions and ethers in it.

"Well, looks like its time to get going," Kamden told himself. The merc opened the window and climbed out of it. He then shimmied along the ledge until he was a safe distance away. He summoned his keyblade and pointed it at his former bedroom. The air was filled with an intense heat as his keyblade gathered an immense ball of fire at its tip. Kamden closed his eyes as he released the huge fireball at his old room, completely destroying the wall and any trace he was ever there. Kamden scrambled over to the next window and climbed in to an empty room. He placed his ear against the door and heard the sound of people running.

"I guess it's working," Kamden whispered. Once the last set of footsteps passed by the door, he slowly opened it and looked towards his room or what was left of it. He slowly exited the vacant room and ran toward the prison cells. Kamden didn't account for the whole castle hearing the blast and was met with a few guards on the way, which made for an awkward confrontation.

"Uh...hey guys whats happening?" He asked awkwardly. The soldiers raised their weapons at him and the merc scratched the back of his head. "Oh come on you guys I thought we were...you know what screw it!"

Kamden dropped the nice guy façade and slashed through the first two guards and let the others determine their own fates. Actually he killed them too before moving on. By some miracle the soldiers at his room seemed to pay no heed to the slaughter that took place behind them.

Kamden had met with very little other resistance on his way to Maria's cell and didn't even bother unlocking it. He instead slashed the bars with his keyblade to set her free.

"What was that explosion?" She asked frantically.

"Do you really wanna know? Or do you want your freedom?"

"Freedom sounds nice, let's go!" Maria ordered. Kamden nodded and led the way hoping to get to the hangar unscathed.

* * *

The winding hallways of the castle proved to be somewhat of a challenge to navigate and they ran into a few more guard parties than they would've liked. Fortunately the corpses were able to provided Maria with a weapon to defend herself. Kamden had taken note of her exceptional skill with a sword before rushing down what he hoped was the final hallway.

"Look there it is!" Kamden exclaimed. He looked back to see an exhausted but elated Maria. But with Kamden's luck something eventually had to go wrong.

There was an ear-splitting explosion that filled the hall that stopped the two escapees in their tracks. Maria was knocked back by the force of the explosion and Kamden barely managed to stay on his feet.

From the flames emerged a boy dressed in all red and had his face shrouded by a hood. In his left hand was a cleaver with a satanic motif to it and in his right was a keyblade with a similar satanic design. There were noticeable brighter red spots on his coat which Kamden could only assume was blood.

"Who are you?" The merc asked. The boy didn't respond and instead turned his gaze to Maria, who was struggling to stand. "Answer me!"

"The girl, let me take her and you'll live," The boy demanded. Kamden glared at him and moved between the boy and Maria.

"Sorry, that isn't gonna happen. I already rescued her from one psycho today and I don't need to do it again." Kamden tightened his grip on his keyblade and inched closer. "Besides a small fry like you won't stand a chance against me."

With that Kamden lunged forward and tried to cut the kid in half, only to be met with the clanking of two keyblades. Kamden looked up in surprise and swore he could almost see the boys face. His thoughts were quickly dismissed as the cleaver the boy was holding swung upward and Kamden quickly dodged it. The boy dashed forward and swept at Kamden's legs with his cleaver and swung at his head with his keyblade. The merc barely jumped between the two blades and countered by slashing across the boy's chest. The kid staggered back and gripped the wound on his chest before it somehow healed it self and didn't even leave a scar.

"Okay...thats new, but that won't stop me from escaping with Maria." Kamden charged his keyblade with fire and let loose with five consecutive fire balls. The boy easily deflected each of them and ran at Kamden once again. Kamden managed to raise his keyblade in time to defend himself. The three weapons collided and Kamden was getting pushed back. "I gotta admit, you're strong. But there is no way I'm letting you take the girl."

"I don't need to take her, I just need to take her heart," The boy stated.

"What? Why her heart?" Kamden asked.

"You'd know if you looked." The boy stated before he knocked Kamden's keyblade away and slashed at him. The merc crossed his arms in hope of protecting himself but was met by the sound of a barrier. He looked up to see the boy getting thrown back and hitting the ground with a thud. Behind him Maria was barely standing and raising her hand to place the barrier around Kamden.

"Now...we're even..." Maria said before collapsing.

Kamden ran to her and helped her up before turning back to the boy, who was standing up with very little damage.

"It looks like you win this round, princess. But make no mistake, your heart will eventually fall into my grasp." The boy turned and was about to disappear into the flames before Kamden stopped him.

"Hey who are you, and what do you mean we?"

"I'll tell you who I am and nothing more. I am Harkin, servant of the darkness," The boy declared. Before he said anything else, Harkin vanished into the flames.

Kamden shook off the recent attack and carried Maria to the gummi ship. The lack of soldiers led Kamden to believe Harkin killed them or they left the hangar earlier.

"Come on Maria, you need to wake up. We're at the hangar," Kamden whispered. Maria stirred slightly but didn't wake up. "Guess she was hurt alot more by that blast than I was."

Kamden and the unconscious Maria made their way over to a small gummi ship. It was big enough for about ten people and looked like it was pretty fast.

"This should do nicely." Kamden punched the code into the panel on he side and opened the ship. He carried Maria into the ship and placed her in the copilot's seat while he sat in the pilot's seat. The merc grabbed the controls and started the take off sequence. The hangar doors opened and Kamden took it as a stroke of luck and rocketed out of the hangar.

Once he was clear of Radiant Garden, Kamden strapped Maria into her seat and began to plot a course for the nearest safe world.

"Time to get going, so long Mom and Dad."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please forgive my horrible puns but I really couldn't resist making them. Also Villains! Harkin is the first of hopefully many villains to be introduced in this series, now I just need to think of more. Anyway that's all from me, please consider reviewing and look forward to chapter 4, see ya.**


	4. A New Friend, A New Rival

**Author's note: Hi, its me again back with another chapter for this story. In case you haven't noticed yet I'm alternating between this story and Every King Has His KASL in terms of updates, but once I run out of content to use for my other story I may focus on this one a bit more. Anyway without further ado, let's get on with chapter 4. **

**Aside from my OC's, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix and Disney, enjoy. **

* * *

Kamden stepped away from the controls as he set the gummi ship on auto pilot. He walked over to Maria, who had went from forced unconsciousness to a semi-peaceful sleep. He sighed and walked over to the sink to clean himself off. When he looked in the mirror he saw blood covering half his face and he really hoped it wasn't his. Kamden knew he didn't have any spare clothes to change into and decided to maybe use it as part of his cover story when he arrived in the next world.

"Ok now that the blood is less of a problem, I just need a lie to tell." Kamden walked over to the main console and examined the routes between worlds. Currently he wasn't on one and was safe from any passing ships, now he just needed to pick a world to travel to. "This one looks okay." He punched in the coordinates and the ship set off to the chosen destination.

Kamden walked up to Maria and shook her shoulder, slightly rousing her from her sleep. "What is it?"

"We're on our way to a new world and we need a cover story to explain...this." He motioned to the blood that stained their clothing and Maria quickly figured it out. "Any ideas?"

"We'll just tell them a majority of the truth, but not all of it." It was a semi decent idea and they certainly look like they had just escaped a huge attack.

"Good idea, now you just need to act hurt, unless you still have trouble walking then just do that," Kamden advised. Maria gave a weak thumbs up before leaning back in her seat.

The merc walked over to the window and stared out into the space between the worlds. It had been a while since he had been out of his world and he didn't have a lot of time to take in the beauty of it. He could see the other worlds as stars and contemplated counting them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Radiant Garden and noticed the damage to the castle was almost visible from outside the world.

"Looks like they might be coming after us in the end," Kamden sighed. He looked forward and saw the next world coming into view. "Time to get into character."

* * *

The ship landed on a sandy beach and Kamden watched from the cockpit as several soldiers ran out to meet it.

"Looks like we're getting the full treatment." Kamden stepped away from the window and helped Maria out of her seat. The redhead leaned on the merc as they walked out of the ship.

Once they were outside, the sound of guns being raised filled the air as Kamden and Maria walked down the exit ramp.

"Identify yourselves!" The captain ordered. Kamden ignored him and walked to the end of the ramp, where a soldier placed his gun on Kamden's head. "I said identify yourselves!"

"Chill out, and get this guy's gun off my face. I have an extreme allergy to bullets...and death." Kamden used his free hand to remove the gun from his proximity before extending it to the guard captain. "The name's Kamden, nice to meet you."

"Who's the girl?" The guard captain wasn't impressed with Kamden's friendliness and stuck to business, which was now the identity of the girl he was carrying.

"Oh her? This is Maria, she's a friend of mine. She needs medical attention right away, she's kinda hurt." Kamden pointed to her legs, which were dragging limply on the ground. "So if you'll excuse us, we'll be heading to the nearest hospital or anything similar."

"Not yet, we need to know where you two came from, and why you're both covered in blood." The guard captain grabbed a bloody spot on Kamden's shirt and rubbed it, gaining a small bloodstain on his fingers. "This blood is still somewhat fresh."

"We're survivors of an attack on the Restoration Committee HQ," Kamden lied. He placed Maria down near the ship and walked over to the captain, who looked quite surprised. "The castle was attacked in the middle of the night by some kid in a red coat, he did some serious damage."

"And you escaped?"

"Yeah but most of the RC stayed behind to cover our escape, we aren't sure how many others escaped," Kamden explained. The captain quickly looked apologetic and turned to Maria, who was struggling to stand.

"I see. My apologies, let me and my men escort you and your friend to the nearest hospital." The captain turned to his men and signaled to a few to help carry Maria and some others to lead the way. Kamden followed but was stopped by the captain. "Why did you choose to come here?"

"We didn't. The coordinates were already in and I just started the autopilot and left." Kamden fibbed. The captain nodded understandingly and Kamden turned with a questioning glance. "Why do you ask? Where am I even?"

"You're on the Destiny Islands."

"Oh well that's not bad. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch up with my friend's new guard detail," Kamden said with a laugh. The merc ran off and met up with the guard carrying Maria, who had fallen back asleep. "Be gentle with her, she's been through a lot lately."

The guard nodded and kept walking and Kamden slowed his pace to disappear into the crowd. He looked through the guards and saw people coming out of their houses to see what was going on.

_They're better off staying inside, I feel like trouble won't be far behind us. _Kamden looked forward and saw huge house on the top of a hill and decided he would check it out later. "No security system can keep me out." A confident smile crept its way across Kamden's face as he followed the guards.

* * *

The white walls of the hospital were even creepier than usual for Kamden. He had never been a fan of hospitals since his parents died. Everything about them made him nervous and slightly claustrophobic. The beeping of the heart monitors, the bland wall colors and especially the doctors. It made him wanna jump out the window, but he kept calm for Maria's sake.

The redhead in question was peacefully sleeping on the bed in front of him. The doctors had given her some medication to ease the pain in her legs and they expected her to be fully healed by morning.

"That takes care of one problem, now what about our clothes." He tugged on the bloodstained fabric of his clothes and tried to think of something to do about it. "I could always buy some new ones, but I wouldn't know what to get Maria."

As he finished his thought, the door opened and someone entered. Kamden had a hard time seeing whether it was a boy or a girl since the person in question was carrying a big screen. He could only see the person's legs, which were quite slim, leading Kamden to believe it was a girl.

"Anything I can help you with miss?" Kamden randomly asked. The girl behind the screen gasped in fear and almost dropped the object she was carrying. She popped her head out from behind it and revealed she was a blonde girl with bright blue eyes, her hair reached down to about her waist and was somewhat curly around the sides of her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't aware there was someone in this room." The blonde responded, placing the screen on the floor. She walked over to Maria, who was still sleeping soundly and checked her temperature.

"Uh she doesn't have a fever, she's just exhausted from recent events." Kamden stood up and removed the girl's hand from Maria's forehead. It wasn't until he got close to the girl that he noticed what she was wearing what was a pretty generic nurse's outfit. Kamden noted that she was wearing leggings and figured she had at least some decency. "Do you work here?"

"Uh yeah, I just started interning here last week." The blonde walked back to the screen and carried it to the far wall.

"Might I get your name, or should I just call you blondie?" Kamden asked. The girl laughed and walked up to Kamden and extended her hand to him.

"I'm Elizabeth, you can call me Liz or Blondie, whichever you prefer." Elizabeth giggled at the last bit as Kamden accepted the handshake.

"I'm Kamden, I don't have any nicknames but you can try to think of some," Kamden greeted.

"I could call you Green, would that work?" Elizabeth joked.

"Hey there is some blue in here just so you know!" Kamden countered. The pair shared a laugh before Maria stirred a little in her sleep. "Oh it looks like she's coming around."

Maria's green eyes slowly opened to see Kamden and Elizabeth standing over her. She took a couple of seconds to register the newcomer's appearance before she sat up in her bed.

"Who's she?" The redhead asked. Kamden laughed nervously before turning to Elizabeth.

"This is Liz, she's an intern here at the hospital." Elizabeth waved nervously and Maria's glare lessened slightly. The blonde turned away nervously and Kamden was left in the middle of what seemed to be an awkward situation. "What's with you two?"

"It's nothing Kamden, honestly." Maria gave one last glare before turning to Kamden. "Are we staying here for the night?"

"If you're feeling up to it we can leave shortly, if not then you're staying here. The doctors won't let me stay overnight," Kamden half lied. He turned to Elizabeth, who was still somewhat frightened of Maria. "Any recommendations?"

"On what?" the blonde asked. Kamden sighed, Elizabeth was cute, but she was pretty absentminded.

"On where to stay tonight. If Maria needs more time to recover, I need a place to stay." Kamden pointed to Maria, who was once again fighting unconsciousness due to her pain meds.

"Oh right! You can come stay with me and my brother, its been so long since we've had guests," Elizabeth suggested. Kamden smiled as Maria's glare intensified. "T-That is if its ok with her."

"Oh she's fine with it, its probably just the pain meds anyway." Kamden waved off her concerns and walked towards the door. "I'm gonna go tell the doctors that you're staying her for the night. Ok Maria?" Before the redhead could answer, Kamden left the room, leaving the two girls in a potentially awkward situation.

"If I could walk right now I'd probably be slapping you or something," Maria muttered under her breath. Thankfully, Elizabeth didn't hear her and she decided to try and be friendly. "So Kamden said you're an intern here?"

"Uh yes, I started interning last week, mostly to prove a point to my brother." The comment left Maria a little confused as Elizabeth sighed as she explained. "My brother and I have very different views on how peace should be achieved. He thinks that brute force and uniting everyone under a single ruling power will work, while I think that good deeds and people working together will bring peace."

"I see..." Maria lied. She really didn't understand but went along with it anyway.

"Like the legends of the gods," Kamden noted. The two girls turned to the door, where Kamden was leaning against the wall beside it. "Like Chaos and Cosmos. They both wanted to rule the world but went about it different ways, so they started an ancient war to decided who was right, so the legends say."

"You think me and my brother are gonna start a war?" Elizabeth asked with concern. Kamden chuckled and walked over to the blonde.

"I hope not, but it is kinda similar. But I think you're both going about it the wrong way, you can't just expect good deeds to bring peace and forcing it on people isn't any better." Kamden watched as Elizabeth looked shocked at his statement and turned to see Maria nodding in agreement. "Well my dad always told me that you needed to find a balance, you can be too passive but you can't be too forceful either but if you do it just right peace will come around on its own."

"Sounds like a long winded speech to me," Maria said, rolling her eyes. Kamden laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head as Elizabeth contemplated slapping him.

"I guess my dad was a pretty strange guy, guess that's where I get it from." The girls shared a look before nodding at Kamden, who was slightly offended. "I-I was kidding."

"We weren't," the girls said in unison. Kamden held his hands over his heart as he feigned injury as the girls laughed at him.

"Madames, you wound me with your words." Kamden made several hand gestures to increase the drama. The girls laughed a little more before Kamden toned down the acting.

"Did you ever get hired to be an actor back home?" Maria asked as she wiped a tear from her eye. The two otherworlders didn't notice Elizabeth's confusion and continued their conversation.

"Not that I can think of, but I bet I'd get paid pretty well for one." Kamden backed up his words by mimicking Hamlet. Maria laughed again while Elizabeth was still left clueless.

"Paid? Why would you get paid to act?" The intern asked. Maria and Kamden both looked at her in surprise and she looked shocked right back at them.

"Well first of all, acting is a job so you should get paid regardless and second, I'm a mercenary," Kamden explained.

"A mercenary?"

"Geez how did you become a medical intern?" the mercenary muttered. He turned to Elizabeth and pretended to pull a business card out of his pocket. "A mercenary. Someone who gets paid to do almost any job, usually violent ones."

"So you're like a hitman or something?" Elizabeth asked. Kamden nodded slowly before waving his hand in a so-so fashion.

"Something like that, I get a few 'my kids stuck in a well' type calls but it was mostly pretty violent stuff," Kamden added. Elizabeth stared at him blankly for a moment before snapping her fingers in realization.

"So you just do jobs for people if they pay you? That sounds pretty cool!" The blonde exclaimed.

"So much for believing in peace," Maria muttered. Her comment was ignored as Elizabeth chuckled at her perceived cleverness. "Are you to gonna leave so I can get some rest?"

Kamden and Elizabeth shared a confused look and shrugged before walking to the door, much to Maria's sudden concern.

"Wait where are you going?" She cried. Kamden stopped in the door and turned to his bedridden friend.

"Well first I'm gonna tell the doctors your pain meds are giving you mood swings and second I'm gonna walk Liz home, I am staying there tonight." Before Maria could object Kamden closed the door and followed Elizabeth.

* * *

Kamden and Elizabeth walked down the street on the way to the latter's house. The blonde had changed out of her work clothes and into a much more casual outfit, which consisted of a while sleeveless hoodie and a blue skirt. She decided to keep the leggings on, much to Kamden's approval and many other male intern's dismay.

As they walked, Kamden felt the awkwardness set in and tried to think of something to say.

"U-Um looks like you have a few admirers," He said hesitantly. The keyblade wielder looked to his left and saw various guys about his age glaring at him. "And it looks like I have a few haters."

"O-Oh don't worry about that. My brother gets those looks sometimes too," Elizabeth stated. That made Kamden feel slightly less nervous and he relaxed slightly.

The pair continued to walk down the street, barely a word passing between them.

_Curse you and your social awkwardness Dad! At least back in the hospital Maria was there to back me up. _Almost on instinct, Kamden pulled his hood over his head, as if to hide himself from his own awkwardness. Elizabeth took notice and tried to pull his hood back down and Kamden gripped the sides of it like his life depended on it.

"Why are you wearing that?" Elizabeth grunted. They both stopped in the middle of the road, each fighting over Kamden's hood. Kamden figured if he was a bit more ruthless, he would've shoved Elizabeth to the ground just to keep his hood on. Instead he pulled his head back a little so his hood was tight on his head. "Stop hiding!"

As she ordered that there was the sound of fabric tearing and Kamden's head reemerged from the other side of his hood.

"Great...no more hiding and now I really need new clothes," Kamden groaned in defeat. Elizabeth stood across from him, her hands on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face.

"Good, now you don't have to be shy anymore," The blonde stated. She pulled Kamden's destroyed hood off his neck and tried to make it look somewhat repaired. "As for the issue of your clothes, I'm pretty sure there are some at my house you can use."

"Your boyfriend's clothes?" Kamden asked dejectedly. Elizabeth was caught off guard by the question and waved her hands in defense.

"N-No I don't have a boyfriend, most people are too scared of my brother to approach me like that." That last part had intrigued Kamden a little bit and cheered him up somewhat.

"Your brother sounds like he has quite the reputation. I bet I could take him," Kamden said confidently. He laughed a little but noticed Elizabeth's unamused expression and quickly stopped. "I take it you're pretty fond of your brother? Sorry."

"I-Its fine. People claiming they can beat my brother in a fight is a regular occurence. So it's not really funny anymore." Elizabeth turned on her heel and continued down the street. In embarrassment Kamden pulled his hood over his head and remembered it was ripped as his head popped out the back. He sighed loudly before following his impromptu guide.

* * *

Elizabeth led Kamden to the large house on the hill he had seen earlier. He felt he wasn't as surprised as he should've been, but the merc quickly put the pieces together.

"A pretty girl every guy wants to date, a brother who scares them all off. Seems fitting they would live here," Kamden murmured. He continued to follow Elizabeth up to the house. Strangely there was no gate or anything around the house, which Kamden figured was either intentional or a mistake. "Any reason there's no gate or fence?"

"Not really, its just people's fear of my brother is a better security system than anything else." The blonde walked up to the door and pushed the button on the intercom near the door. "Hey Cole, I'm back and I brought a guest."

Kamden was too caught up in his own thoughts to hear the voice from the other end of the intercom but followed Elizabeth inside when the door unlocked. The inside of the house was, to say the least, elaborate. Judging by the decor, it was easy yo tell which items belonged to which sibling. On one side there were flowers, pictures of doves, peace symbols among other things. The other side of the house had various weapons hung up along the walls and there was even a huge weapons cabinet on the main floor.

Despite knowing that the weapons weren't Elizabeth's, Kamden walked up to the cabinet and turned to the blonde.

"So which weapon is your favorite?" The merc asked. Elizabeth looked completely offended at the remark and Kamden laughed a little. "Oh come on I was kidd-"

"The mace is my second favorite," a voice boomed. Kamden turned to the upper level and saw a boy about two years older than him walking over to the balcony. He had short auburn hair and red eyes. He was pretty built, as shown by his lack of a shirt and looked like he had just come back from a workout.

"Oh yeah, which is your number one favorite?" The merc asked eagerly. The shirtless boy smirked and raised his hand in front of his face. In a flash of red and black light a keyblade appeared in his hand. The keyblade looked like a regular sword with flames wrapped around the blade. The head of the keyblade looked like a pair devil horns wreathed in flames.

"Not to shabby, huh?" Cole asked.

Kamden smirked and clapped slowly. "Impressive, I should've expected to find a keyblade wielder out here." Cole gave his guest a confused glance as Kamden instinctively summoned his keyblade. "Now we can see if you know how to use it."

Cole looked tempted by the idea of fighting this newcomer, and felt the urge to bring him down a notch or two.

"Fine, meet me on the training grounds out back when you're ready, and bring the first aid kit, you're going to need it." Cole dismissed his keyblade and walked back down the hall. Kamden eagerly headed up the stairs to follow him but was stopped by Elizabeth.

"Before you go we should get you some new clothes, you don't wanna lose looking like that do you?" Before the mercenary could answer, the blonde dragged him down a different hallway and into a room with half a dozen closets.

"Look through these and if you don't find anything you like you can go fight in your normal clothes," Elizabeth stated. Kamden walked over to the closet farthest away from the door and opened it. There were various green and blue colored pieces of clothing. Kamden grabbed the first one he saw, a long sleeved green and black hoodie with a lightning bolt design on the shoulders.

"How about this?" Kamden asked. He held the hoodie up for Elizabeth to see and she smiled supportively. He quickly folded the hoodie in half so the sleeves were the same length and tossed it into the air and summoned his keyblade to swiftly cut the sleeves. Kamden caught the hoodie on the way and quickly replaced his old one with it. He turned to Elizabeth and held his arms out to his sides.

"How do I look?"

"Not much different than before, aside from the black mixed in with the green and the slightly longer sleeves." Elizabeth grabbed the old hoodie and folded it up before leading Kamden out to the training grounds. It was a significantly shorter walk than expected and Kamden saw how large training area truly was. It consisted of a huge field with several different area devoted to different aspects of training. In the middle of it all was a large area dedicated to sparring, at each corner was a pillar and the arena was made of stone.

"Looks like a great place for a fight," Kamden noted. He hopped over the balcony and ran over to the arena where Cole was waiting. Kamden noted Cole's more serious training attire, which consisted of a long-sleeved red shirt with armor on his forearms and shoulders, black pants with an armor lining and metal combat shoes. His keyblade gripped firmly in his left hand and Kamden quickly materialized his own.

"About time you showed up, I was beginning to think you chickened out," Cole said arrogantly. Kamden smirked and got ready to fight and Cole did the same. "Time for me to show you how a true keyblade wielder fights."

"By all means, I just you have more bite than bark," Kamden retorted. The two combatants stood opposing each other, and Elizabeth stood on the sidelines.

"Ready! Fight!" She ordered. Once the command was given the two boys ran at each other, keyblades raised and ready for a good bout.

* * *

**Author's Note: So that was chapter 4 and two more characters have been introduced. Also I'm planning on or hoping I can make the next couple of chapters longer than the first few have been, so the updates for this and my RWBY story may be a little longer. So hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, consider reviewing or something and look hopefully you'll look forward to chapter 5, see ya. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 5 for all those concerned. I was considering scrapping this story until I received some positive feedback on each chapter. In that three hours of reading those reviews and thinking of the premise of this chapter, I came up with a new villain and a few new ideas for my other stories. Anyway, let's get on with it.**

**Aside from my OC's, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix and Disney, enjoy. **

* * *

**(Those Who Fight-Crisis Core)** Kamden and Cole met in the center of the arena, blades locked and staring each other down. Kamden had a confident smirk on his face while Cole was almost grinding his teeth into dust. Cole tried to push forward but Kamden dug in his heels. The merc chuckled as he sidestepped and let Cole's momentum do the rest. The older boy stumbled forward but retained enough balance to get a decent counterattack. Kamden effortlessly blocked it and used his free hand to shove Cole forward. The merc jumped over his opponent and delivered a swift kick to his abdomen before sweeping his feet away. Cole pushed off his hands to kick Kamden in the face. The mercenary stumbled back before kneeing Cole in the side, sending him spinning off to the side. Cole landed awkwardly but scrambled to his feet in preparation for the next attack.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth stood on the sidelines in shock. No one had ever fought so evenly with her brother, who was skilled in using a variety of weapons. Kamden proved to be, at the very least, an even match for Cole, who was already panting in exhaustion.

"I guess appearances really are deceiving," Cole stated. Kamden smiled back at the older boy with an impressed smile before wiping the small spot of blood from his mouth.

"I must say, you do have more bark than bite. Sadly, I'm probably gonna have to start trying," Kamden responded. Cole was caught off guard by the hand guard of Kamden's keyblade ramming into his stomach before his knee drove into his chin. The mercenary retained his confident smirk as he continued to barrage Cole with physical blows, having all but discarded his keyblade. Cole was taking the full force of each punch, leaving bruises all across his body. Kamden stopped his assault while gently rocking back on his heel while Cole was still recovering from the beating he just took. He saw Kamden shifting his balance between his feet and braced himself for the incoming attack. Kamden noticed Cole's defensive stance and jumped back to wait for Cole's reaction. The older boy opened his eyes and noticed he was still standing and conscious.

In his anger he shouted at Kamden. "How dare you toy with me!" Kamden just smiled as Cole's anger increased. The older boy raised his keyblade as several shards of ice shot out of it. Kamden countered with a wide sweeping fire spell than turned the ice into tiny puddles. Cole growled as he launched several fireballs at his opponent, who easily destroyed them with an aero spell.

Once the fire dispersed, Kamden rested his keyblade on his shoulder and smirked at Cole, whose anger was building to critical levels.

"Come on, enough with the foreplay. Let's get back to it." Kamden then stabbed his keyblade into the ground and leaned against it, waiting for Cole to make the first move.

Cole clenched his fists to the point they were bleeding as a menacing, red glow surrounded his body. That caught Kamden's attention and he got ready for whatever was about to happen. Cole's head jerked up to show his blood red eyes and sadistic glare. Kamden shrunk back in fear as Cole slowly walked forward, his aura like a raging fire. Out of the corner of his eye, Kamden could see Elizabeth placing her hands over her mouth in fear. That only aided in making Kamden want to keep fighting. Cole lunged forward and drove his keyblade towards Kamden's skull, which succeeded in trimming a few strands of hair from his head. Cole's keyblade hit the ground with such force that the ground split and travelled twenty feet outside the arena.

"Whoa! That's awesome, as long as it doesn't hit me that is," Kamden exclaimed. He swiftly dodged another potentially fatal strike of Cole's before responding with a slash of his own. Cole blocked it with such force that Kamden's keyblade was ripped from his grasp and left wide open to any incoming attack. Cole laughed maniacally before unleashing a mega flare upon his defenseless opponent. Kamden crossed his arms in front of him in hopes of defending himself. As the fireball got closer, Kamden conjured a weak reflect spell with his hands to block most of the attack.

A large explosion appeared in the wake of the destructive fireball and Cole laughed even more menacingly than before. "What happened to getting serious, huh? Looks like there won't be a victory for you!" Outside the arena, Elizabeth was on the verge of tears as her new friend went up in flames. She wanted to run into the arena to save him but feared her brother's current state.

The flames slowly died down and once the smoke cleared, a bloody and battered Kamden stood in the center of the explosion sight. Kamden's legs were shaking as he quickly recalled his keyblade and collapsed. The head of his keyblade stabbed into the ground to provide some balance as Cole approached him. The flame-like aura was still present but his eyes were closer to normal than they were before, which meant he was shocked at Kamden's survival or calming down.

The mercenary wearily looked up at his opponent and tried to stand. "Are you gonna use mega flare pointblank this time?" Instead of blowing him up, Cole raised his keyblade and a green light came out the end. Kamden felt most of his energy returning and stood up. Cole smiled at him before jumping back to give each other some space. "Don't tell me you're having fun now."

"I hate to admit it, but yeah, this is fun," Cole answered. Kamden smiled back before preparing to engage Cole once again. The two boys met in the middle and traded blows before Kamden took over. The mercenary froze Cole's foot in place and battered him around with his keyblade. The last upward strike freed Cole's foot but disarmed him in the process. Kamden jumped up beside Cole and landed multiple combos on him, sending him hurtling to the ground. Cole flipped in the air before landing near the edge of the arena. Kamden landed safely in the middle as Cole's anger increased once again. Kamden charged a blizzaga spell as Cole readied a firaga. The boys unleashed their blasts, which met between them and struggled to push the other one back. Kamden was adding more blizzard spells to his current one but the firaga was melting it just as quickly. Cole grinned as his spell was overpowering Kamden's but the mercenary came up with a smart idea.

"Hey Cole, you mad?" Kamden said with a laugh.

"A little, why do you ask?" Cole answered. He didn't notice Kamden appear right behind him with his keyblade encased in ice.

"Cause you need to chill," Kamden exclaimed. Cole looked behind as Kamden's icy keyblade struck him across the back. The older boy dropped to his knees as a small block of ice formed on his back. Kamden caught him and gently dropped him out of the arena to signify his victory.**(End Those Who Fight)** Elizabeth ran into the arena and raised Kamden's arm as the victor as Cole picked himself up. "That was a fun fight, I wouldn't mind doing that again."

Cole glared at Kamden, but stopped to acknowledge him as an equal. "I will admit your skills are impressive, no one has ever been able to sneak up on me like that."

"I pride myself on being sneaky, and good with a keyblade," Kamden smirked. The mercenary extended his hand to Cole, who hesitantly accepted. "Now how about we get something to eat, I'm starving."

* * *

Kamden was in awe of the feast prepared for the three of them. There was a seemingly endless supply of food. Lobster, steak, caviar and even vegetables.

"Wow, you guys eat like this every night?" Kamden asked. Cole nodded as he sat down.

"Well we normally don't have this much variety since we hardly have guests," Elizabeth said as she shot a joking look to her brother. Cole laughed as he cut his steak. Kamden sat across from them and filled his plate.

"I can see why, Cole is a pretty scary dude when he's mad. I didn't expect to come out of that alive," Kamden agreed.

"To be completely honest, I never expected you to survive either. I apologize for my erratic behavior." Cole wiped his face before grabbing his glass, which he filled with water, and continuing. "That being said, how did you learn to fight like that?"

Kamden mumbled something with his mouth full, causing both siblings to look at him in confusion. The mercenary swallowed his food before repeating himself. "I sorta taught myself, there were lots of heartless around Radiant Garden and taking jobs as a mercenary helped a bit too. I guess it was mostly natural talent."

"That's rather modest of you. You must've received some training while growing up," Cole asserted.

"Well my mom taught me some magic but I got really good at that after I got my keyblade. My dad taught me the basics of swordplay and I used that as the basis for my training," Kamden explained.

"I guess that makes some sense, you can't just pick up a sword and magically know how to use it," Elizabeth deduced. The boys nodded as they continued to eat.

Kamden was about to get seconds when a loud tremor shook the house. Cole ran to the window and noticed two people walking to the both wore identical red coats but one was obviously a woman due to her slender appearance and black hair that stuck out from her hood. The other was a boy with a demonic looking cleaver on his back. Kamden ran to the window and instantly recognized Harkin.

"Cole, take Elizabeth to the hospital and get my friend Maria. Once you do that, get to the gummi ship on the beach and get it prepped for take off, I'm gonna stall those two." Without a second thought, Kamden ran downstairs, leaving Cole to try and follow.

"Kamden, let me help you. Elizabeth is more than capable of securing your friend herself," Cole stated. He was about to give chase when Elizabeth stopped him. "Let me help him."

"Kamden isn't fighting to kill, we can afford to let him take this one alone." Elizabeth dragged her brother to the secret exit and ran to the hospital while silently hoping Kamden would by them the time they needed.

* * *

"Harkin, when are we gonna get to fight someone, I'm bored," The black haired woman whined. Harkin didn't answer as he summoned his keyblade and grabbed his cleaver.

"I'm glad you survived Radiant Garden, Kamden," Harkin said calmly. The mercenary appeared from the shadows with a less than satisfied look on his face. Harkin's eyes glowed from under his hood as he approached Kamden, who calmly summoned his keyblade.

"You know, I was just trying to have a quiet dinner with some friends, when you shook the whole island. Now I have to come clean up some trash off the street," Kamden spat. Harkin laughed and motioned his companion ahead before Kamden stopped her. "She stays, I'm not letting either of you past me."

"Foolish boy, have you already forgotten the result of our last battle? If Maria wasn't there, I would've chopped you into meat cubes," Harkin threatened. "And now you have the nerve to challenge me and Jetta. False bravado will only get you so far."

"Harkin, sweetie, let me fight him. I wanna see if he's as weak as you say," The girl known as Jetta pleaded. Harkin looked at his ally before backing away. The girl removed her hood to reveal her heavily scarred face. The whole right half was scarred and the left side had a long scar running vertically down her face. Her right eye was white and her left one was blue, leading Kamden to wonder at the former, if any, beauty of this woman. Jetta flicked her wrist and two bayonets appeared from her sleeves. The blades had smiley faces carved into them and a flame on each one. "Now it's just you and me cutie pie!"

Kamden smirked and got ready to fight. He planned on throwing a few insults at the girl to get he riled up, an act he would instantly regret. "Hey Harkin, wanna show your face, I bet you're a lot cuter than scarface over here."

"How dare you! I'll tear you apart for that!" Jetta shouted. She charged at Kamden, who rocked on his heels before pushing forward with an attack. The three blades met and Kamden's increased momentum pushed Jetta off her feet and onto her back. Kamden rolled to his feet and dashed ahead to strike the scarred girl. Jetta got to her feet to see Kamden send four blizzard spells at her. She extended two more bayonets from each sleeve and threw them at the ice chunks, shattering them. Kamden used the distraction to sneak behind Jetta and land two quick combos on her. Jetta steadied herself and readied another pair of bayonets to strike with. Luckily for Kamden, speed wasn't his opponent's strong suit giving him a clear advantage. The scarred girl's anger caused her to lash out at Kamden and get her bayonets stuck in the ground. Kamden appeared above her and slashed her hard across the back. The mercenary landed with a large smirk on his face in preparation of another taunt.

"Well if those wounds heal your body will match your face." Kamden ended his taunting by blasting Jetta with four firagas engulfing her in flames and sending her crashing to the ground. Kamden smiled at his handiwork before turning to Harkin, who was preparing to enter the battle. "One down, one to go."

Before Kamden could engage Harkin, he felt two objects pierce his shoulders. He looked back to see a flaming, but very lively, Jetta standing over him. Kamden tried to stand but cried out in agony when he put his weight on his arms. Jetta smiled sadistically and stabbed another pair of bayonets into his legs. Kamden tried to stand but was kicked to the ground by Harkin, who was ready to blast Kamden with a mega flare.

"Looks like you lose, and no one is here to save you this time," Harkin stated. Intense heat began to build at the end of Harkin's keyblade and Kamden closed his eyes to wait for the sweet embrace of death. He heard the fireball launch but didn't feel it hit him. Kamden opened his eyes to see Cole kicking Harkin in the head and the mega flare directed toward the former's house. Harkin summoned his keyblade and caught Jetta across the face and landed between the two.

"Kamden, are you okay? Can you move?" Cole asked. Kamden glared at him before trying to get up.

"What do you think?" Kamden snapped back. Cole chuckled before tossing Kamden towards the gummi ship that was parked nearby. Kamden hit the side of the gummi ship and the bayonets went the rest of the way through Kamden's body. The mercenary screeched in pain before falling to the ground. The side hatch opened and Elizabeth ran out to retrieve Kamden. She hoisted him over her shoulder and carried him inside, taking a quick glance to see how her brother was faring. Cole was holding both enemies off while backing up to the gummi ship.

"Get that thing in the air, now!" Cole backed up another few steps as he knocked Harkin away and clashed with Jetta.

"What about you?" Elizabeth cried.

"I'll be fine, just get in the air." Cole kicked Jetta away as Harkin returned to the fray. They locked blades and Harkin suddenly sounded somewhat happy.

"You're the other one we're looking for," He said.

"What are you babbling about?" Cole asked. Harkin laughed before kicking Cole away and halting Jetta's advance.

"We found what we're looking for, we can go now." Harkin turned and opened a dark corridor. Jetta was the first to enter after she spat on Cole and was followed by Harkin, who waved before disappearing into the darkness. Cole picked himself up and ran to the gummi ship as it rose into the air. Cole saw Kamden already bandaged and sitting unconscious in a seat while Maria and Elizabeth were at the controls.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, a few cure spells and some bandages and he was all patched up. Now we need to wait for him to wake up," Maria explained. Cole nodded and sat in the seat next to his sister, who was plotting a course for any world that looked safe. He placed his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder to calm her shaking nerves before speaking.

"Don't waste your time trying to find a safe world, just get us to one that's close."

With that, Elizabeth plotted a course to the nearest world, silently praying it was a peaceful one.

* * *

**Author's Note: Im just gonna say now that Jetta was somewhat inspired by Alexander Anderson from Hellsing, the bayonets and the regeneration powers seemed like a decent fit for Jetta's personality. Also I figured I had made Kamden seem very overpowered in the earlier chapters so I let him get his ass kicked by Jetta, which let Cole get some time in the spotlight. I plan on uploading new chapters for this after I upload 2-3 new chapters between my other stories, so expect updates every couple weeks. Anyway this is key18 signing off, please consider reviewing and look forward to chapter six, see ya later. **


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